Billie Eilish was told by music industry execs that she’d have a “horrible career”

ABC/Randy HolmesTo say that Billie Eilish is a success feels like quite the understatement. The “bad guy” singer has sold out shows across the world and has been slaying Billboard chart records left and right, and she’s only 17. But when she first started pursuing making music professionally, she says she was met with resistance from industry executives.

In a conversation with Pharrell Williams for V Magazine’s new cover story, Eilish recalls her first meetings with label and management types when she was 13.

“I think the only people that didn’t look at me like I was going to have a horrible career were the people that I ended up working with,” Eilish explains.

“Everyone was just like, ‘Oh, you’re 13, yikes, you’re going to be used,’ and this and that,” she continues. “And I am like, ‘Yo, y’all are the people that would use me in the situation you are talking about.'”

Luckily, Eilish was able to connect with people who shared her mindset and passion, and it’s safe to say that her career hasn’t been “horrible.”

“I am really, really lucky and grateful that I have had the experience that I had with my label and with my team and everyone,” she says. “I never had any issues with people trying to pull me in a different direction, one in which I would not want to be headed.”